If we stand back from our gift-buying busyness, if we look to the manger, we will see the core message of Christmas which we are to follow: Be humble.
The son of God came to earth as a newborn baby. Why did he come as a helpless baby from a poor family?
Simple humility. The first lesson taught us by Jesus Christ that leads us toward human goodness.
Humility is the tool of human goodness. The opposite of humility is pride. Pride is the tool of evil, causing haughtiness, jealousy, or anger over slights or insults.
Pride is when we worry constantly about what others think of us. When we must be the center of attention, and feel frustrated if we are not. When it is all about us, and not about God and our neighbor, this is pride.
So, how do we grow in humility, and not pride?
This prayer for the virtue of humility has been around a long time, and it is certainly one that I need to pray! It asks for our Lord’s assistance in humbly following in His footsteps and casting aside, or at least offering up to Him, all those nagging doubts and fears that come with our self-centeredness.
Deliver me, Jesus:
From the desire of being loved,
From the desire of being extolled,
From the desire of being honored,
From the desire of being praised,
From the desire of being preferred to others,
From the desire of being consulted,
From the desire of being approved,
From the fear of being humiliated,
From the fear of being despised,
From the fear of suffering rebukes,
From the fear of being calumniated,
From the fear of being forgotten,
From the fear of being ridiculed,
From the fear of being wronged,
From the fear of being suspected,
From the fear that others may be loved more than I.
Grant me the grace to desire: That others may be esteemed more than I, That in the opinion of the world,others may increase and I may decrease, That others may be chosen and I set aside, That others may be praised and I unnoticed, That others may be preferred to me in everything, That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should.
HUMILTY IS SUCH A GIFT. LET’S LIVE IT, AND SHARE IT!!
My husband and I have been married for fifty-six years, so I know a little bit about the subject. Marriage can be viewed through many spectrums: love, of course; sacrifice; commitment; responsibility; patience, forgiveness, and courage. But since I’m a writer, I’ll use the poetic analogy of a boat for the married state. I began the adventure of marriage sailing in one boat with a man I fell in love with. In time, five children took up resident in our boat, as well as thirteen grandchildren plus suitcases of sporadic joys and sorrows, constantly opening and closing. Yet, the vessel never seemed too small for any of us. And even on very wide waters, in sometimes frightening weather, our little boat never stopped its aim for the farthest shore. Looking back, I call that a mystery.
I have asked myself the question: How did my husband and I last through for these fifty-six years? Because there were times. . . .Oh yes, there were times, when each of us may have wanted to ‘get out of the boat’ and be done with the trip, but again, because of some mystery, we remained.
My husband and I met when we were seventeen years old as freshmen at Spring Hill College in Mobile, AL. He was from North Alabama, a transplanted Yankee only a year before. I was a dyed-in-the-wool Southern girl born and raised in South Alabama. He borrowed a pencil from me in Theology class, and broke it. Later he told me he’d broken it purposely so he could stop me after class and give me a verbal apology. We were at once attracted to each other. Who knows why that happens–instant attraction—except it did. And what is that fragile web of affection between a man and a woman that teases by word and touch, by sight and appetite, and fastens two separate souls into one? Well, I call that a mystery, too.
I was an art major, and he was a history major with an eye to Law School. In ways, we were complete opposites. I saw our life together as a painting in progress, a changing of colors from dark to light to brilliant, and sometimes back again to start all over with darkness, requiring a complete and utter gesso of the canvas. He saw it measured against the annals of what succeeds and what doesn’t. He was–and is–the logical foundation. I am a believer in imagination, always wanting to paint things a little brighter. But we are the same when it comes to seeing our marriage as our most important vocation, the vehicle which will take us to heaven. We see our marriage as a sacrament. Another mystery? I think so.
In the original Greek scripture, the word for “mystery” actually meant “sacrament.” The sacrament of marriage was intended to reflect the unremitting love that Christ has for His people, the Church. My husband and I never considered that we could, or would, get out of our Catholic marriage, no matter how many bad times we would go through–and there have been many. In other words, we believe in the mystery and in the sacrament.
Today, the concept of marriage, who and what it’s for, has changed in the eyes of many people who are unwilling to take on the honest commitment that marriage requires. These are spouses– husband and wife, or both–who have been led to believe that “Life is all about ME.” That statement is poison to marriage and family, because it makes marriage as disposable as a paper plate, a sign of our times. Today, many weddings seem to be only expensive occasions to party, and afterwards, the marriage sometimes bears little resemblance to the sacrament of Holy Matrimony as God intended it to be–husband and wife holding on to each other through good and bad times in a vehicle of His grace, helping each other to become the best person each can be.
And if any vocation needs grace to survive, it is surely marriage. Because if we fall out of the marriage boat and drown, we may watch our children drown with us.
No matter how well matched they may be, it is not easy for any two people to live together day in and day out, year after year, with their inescapable faults and personality defects grating upon each other. It’s not easy to help one another grow in goodness and nobility in spite of those faults—little by little adjusting to one another so that the faults of one “fit in” to the perfections of the other and unity arises from the very differences of the two persons. This is a beautiful evolution, like the emergence of the butterfly from its chrysalis; but it is not easy. No matter how selfless a couple may be, it is not easy for them to face the prospect of responsible parenthood, with all the sacrifices that entails. Especially it is not easy to face the prospect of an ultimate judgment, in which they will have to answer to God for the souls of the children who have been entrusted to them..–beginningcatholic.com
Traditional marriage is a sacrament instituted by God who loves us. It is His grace that gives us commitment to keep going. And yes, the water IS wide, the boat sometimes constricting, and the trip often difficult. But love that works through difficulties can lead to holiness and everlasting life with God.
Translating a World on the Edge 